Youth aged 12 and older can book COVID-19 vaccine appointments across Ontario this weekend.

The province says that age band will become eligible to book shots starting Sunday at 8 a.m.

They can book through the provincial online portal, call centre and through pharmacies offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only shot authorized by Health Canada for use in youth aged 12 and older.

The age group is becoming eligible a week ahead of schedule, though some regions have already started vaccinating youth at pop-ups and larger clinics.

The province says it made the schedule change at the request of public health units.

It says the regions wanted to remove barriers for families getting vaccinated.